Enthusiasm
by shadowcaster01
Summary: Colin has his wand, his books, his camera, and a few extra things. He's all ready to go...


_Hey everyone!_

_I seem to be doing a whole bunch of oneshots lately, but this was for the HPFC forum. The details are down below. Hope you enjoy… _

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He still couldn't believe it. Out of all the things that could have happened to him, Colin never thought that it would be possible – but it was. He was a wizard; a real, live, genuine, magical _wizard. _All those stories were true, with all the strange creatures, and magic, and adventure…. He couldn't wait to go and actually see it for himself. It wouldn't be long until Colin had to go board the train. What sort of train would it be? It would have to be special; no ordinary train could have wizards riding it to school. Maybe it was a kind of magic train? Colin had been so excited about the first day that he'd been unable to sleep for the past week. Well, maybe he'd managed a few hours – but no more than that.

He'd received an odd looking envelope in the mail during the summer, his name and address written in green ink. It even said where his _bedroom_ was, how cool was that? His dad had found it that morning, although that was weird, since there was no post on Sundays. Even weirder was the fact that it had an owl carrying it. An _owl_! Mum and dad had been so shocked, they'd let it in. Then the bird stuck out its leg, and there was the letter, attached to it with a piece of string.

Did wizards always use owls? What about the rest of the world, did they use owls too? Colin was so unsure, but it was still so incredibly interesting, now that he thought back on it. Maybe he should get an owl too; they seemed so cool, and terribly smart, if they were able to find people like that. Did wizards train them, or were they special owls that just knew where to go? He really wanted one now, although mum had said that with everything all at once, he'd have to wait until next year.

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…**..**

When Colin had opened the letter, he'd been confused. _Hogwarts_? There was a school for this? It would be really cool if it was true, but mum and dad were worried that someone was sending them joke mail. When Colin had found the second slip of parchment, he'd grinned, unable to help himself. Someone was coming to see them, to tell them about _magic_! He'd wondered about the kinds of magic that this person could do. Would they pull a rabbit out of a hat? Make someone disappear? It said that the person was a teacher; would they show him how to do it? That would be _so cool_…

A week later there had been a knock on their front door. Colin had run down the stairs, through the hall, and tugged it open. Standing there in front of him was the strictest looking lady he had ever seen. She had to have been middle aged; there were streaks of grey in her hair, which had been pulled back into a severe bun, and there were wrinkles and frown lines on her face. She was _tall_ too, especially with the big, green pointed hat she wore on her head, which matched a dress-like outfit she had on. The lady wore a stern look when he'd opened the door, but it softened when she seemed to notice him.

"Colin Creevey, is it?" The lady had asked kindly, a Scottish lilt to her voice.

He'd just nodded, not completely sure what to say. Mum and dad had made it to the door by then, and they were staring at the lady, as if she did something wrong. Did they think she would hurt him? But she spoke so nicely to him…

The lady frowned slightly when his parents stood by the door. No one spoke for a few moments, and then she broke the silence with a tilt of her head.

"So, you are Mr. Creevey's parents?" She'd asked.

Dad nodded with an odd look on his face. What was he so worried about?

"May I come in, then? It would be much easier for all involved if we discussed this away from prying muggle ears…"

Dad gestured for her to come in, closing the door behind her.

"What's a muggle?" Colin had asked. It was such a funny word…

The lady looked at him again, smiling slightly. "It's a word wizarding folk use for people without magic," she'd replied. "Like your parents. You're what we call 'muggleborn'."

"So, that letter was real?" Mum looked shocked; her eyes were wide open and everything…

"Yes, your son has been invited to attend Hogwarts School for his magical education," the lady had said. "I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration teacher."

Colin had grinned; this was so exciting! A real live magical person was in his house, and he was going to Hogwarts. He didn't know exactly what that would be like just yet, but that didn't change anything. Colin was going to learn _magic_!

"Can you show us something?" Colin blurted. His parents frowned at him slightly for being rude, but the professor didn't seem to mind. He was also sure that mum and dad also wanted to see some of it for themselves.

Professor McGonagall pulled out what looked like a twig from the sleeve of her dress. "This is my wand," she'd told him, and he looked on in awe. "Every witch and wizard uses one to perform spells, and you will have one too."

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…**..**

Colin swore that he'd never smiled as much as he did that day, and his face had hurt the next morning because of it. Mum had told him that if he kept grinning like that, his face might split in half. Dad had chuckled, and told him that he and mum were proud of him, and that he should learn as much as he could. They'd given him a camera to bring with him, and made him promise to take as many pictures as he could, so that they could see what his school was like…

Colin glanced down at his wand in his hand. They'd gone out to the wizarding shopping district the week before; he'd been so overwhelmed by everything around him, that mum had had to grab onto him to stop Colin from rushing about – he only wanted to take a look at everything!

There had been so many stores, and people in strange clothes, and books, and odd creatures, and so many other things that he hadn't gotten the chance to see just yet. There was always next year, although that was far too long a wait, if you asked him. At least he'd found all of his school things, and then a few extra books to try to catch up to everyone else. All those witches and wizards that had been born with magic would surely have an advantage over him right now, and he couldn't possibly turn up the first day not knowing anything. That would be awful; would they laugh at him for that? Colin shook his head. Of course they wouldn't! They had _magic_, surely everyone would be nice, and kind, and he'd make a whole bunch of new friends…

Colin had been staying up late the night before, reading some of his textbooks. Then he'd taken a look at a few of the others, too. In this one book, about great twentieth century wizards, there was a boy about his age who was going to Hogwarts. Harry Potter. Colin couldn't believe it; a _famous_ _wizard_ was going to school with him. It was so exciting! Would he meet him on the train, or between classes? Would he want to be his friend? Colin certainly hoped so, because that would be _so cool_.

_Harry Potter_. Maybe he should ask him for his autograph…

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_There you have it. This fic was also in response to a few challenges:_

_Fire the Cannon's March Fanfiction Tournament_

_Fire the Cannon's Snakes and Ladders Challenge: Colin Creevey_

_Empress Empoleon's Colors Competition: Purple_

_Total word count: 1303_

_Until next time, peace out!_

_Shadowcaster01_


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